When Push Comes To Shove
by Paroxysmal
Summary: AU Murder-mystery college fic (don't worry, none of your fave characters will die). VB GCC K18. Not your generic DBZ university fic; this actually has all those nice things like grammar and spelling.
1. Julia

Julia Gero glared around the musty room, arms folded over her chest. She didn't want to be here, and the other people milling about didn't look exceptionally friendly.  
  
She was a journalism major, in her first year, and a little prone to not handing things in on time. Fortunately, she had understanding lecturers. Unfortunately, they had decided she needed to pull in some extra credit, and she had been assigned to the university newspaper.  
  
Please, dear God, strike me down now. Come on, a dusty room with a few dorks running stories on how great the science club is? I so do not belong here, and you know it.  
  
Unfortunately, no smiting followed her quick mental prayer, and she was forced to suffer her own existence as a girl with mousy hair and semi- stylish glasses shuffled over to her.  
  
"Hi! You must be Julia, right? The new first-year?" A wide grin was plastered across her face, showing off perfectly straight teeth. Years of braces. She was so a dweeb.  
  
"I prefer Juu, or 18, but yeah. So uh... what do I have to do around here, exactly?"  
  
"Well, you're the new girl, so you get stuck with the stuff nobody wants to do." Juu winced. "But I'm a sweetie, so I'm going to give you my thing and I'll do your cutting and pasting of classified ads. You'll be covering the mid-semester barbecue for first and second year students. It'd be better for you to do it anyway, seeing as you'd be there anyway." Actually, 18 wouldn't be caught dead at some stupid barbecue. Everyone only went to either meet people of the opposite sex or lounge around snogging their significant others. She wasn't into that.  
  
"Great. When's my deadline?"  
  
"Wednesday. And unlike in class, there is absolutely no leeway here. We go to print at 11pm Wednesday. If you're late, you're kicked from your journalism classes, and I hear you're a major." The goofy grin was gone, replaced with a suspicious glare. She stalked away and sat at a desk. Julia narrowed her eyes to read the pretentious nameplate sitting at the front of the desk.  
  
Marjorie Felders. Student Editor.  
  
She gave Marjorie a haughty look and strutted out the door.  
  
"Yeah and so then I'm all 'well, Mister, that's not what Claire said was going on.' Ohmigod, you so should've seen his face. He was so stunned. He thought I didn't know Claire. I'm soooo glad you introduced us."  
  
"Well you know it was the least I could do. I'm sure he's feeling really betrayed right now though. High-school sweethearts and all." Bulma giggled as she brushed her hair, still damp from her recent shower. Feeling a crick in her neck, she moved the phone so it was cradled between her other shoulder and cheek. "So are you going to take him back?"  
  
"No way, B! Besides, the way he was talking about it I think he'd rather be with Claire right now anyway. Or maybe you-u."  
  
"No way!" Bulma laughed, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail at the nape of her neck. "He's so over me. And I'm so over him."  
  
"Uh-uh. Not at all. Him, I mean. You know you guys are always getting back together. Once every couple of months you're like 'oh, I think he's changed. So much.' And then you get back together for like a fortnight and you remember you guys just don't work together. But you'll never get over each other."  
  
"I am over him!" There was a long pause. "Ok, maybe I'm not completely over him, but I just need to meet that special someone, y'know? The one that will change the way I feel forever." She sighed and flopped back on the bed.  
  
"Good luck with that one and – oh shit! It's like 6:30! Janie and I are heading out to drown our sorrows in like fifteen minutes and I'm not even dressed yet. Do you want to come, by the way?"  
  
"No thanks, Vicky. Have fun! Good night!" She leaned over and placed the phone in its cradle. Her roomie would be coming back soon, she guessed, and she was in no mood to see anyone. She'd had a bad day, and talking to Vicky about her relationship with Bulma's ex was not helping.  
  
And what's the bet he'll be at the barbecue, snogging Claire. Fuck Claire. Cuck fucking everyone. Fuckers.  
  
I swear a bit. Bad me. Anyway, this is going to have murder-mystery elements later giggle as well as the obligatory romance and such. You know you wouldn't be at if you didn't love the romance XD XD 


	2. She Had Green Eyes

This was the HEIGHT of dagginess. There was no way in the world that this barbecue could get any worse. Juu shifted her weight and shot a death glare at some Hawaiian-shirted fool who was heading towards her. He turned tail mighty quick.

There was nothing newsworthy going on at this barbecue. Although, she'd spent the previous afternoon reading backdated reports of the annual barbecue and it seemed that the less newsworthy your story was, the better.

Unfortunately, that meant she'd have to… mingle. She sauntered over to where people were collecting burnt sausages and limp, slightly soggy bread. Ew. She stood over the picnic table, staring at the sausage sandwich she'd been handed. She was expected to put that in her mouth. It had sand on it. Well, she hoped it was sand.

"Are you going to eat that?" She looked up into an inanely grinning face. The owner of this grin clearly wanted her sausage, and she gave him the go-ahead. As if she was going to eat it anyway. Just as he raised it to his mouth, however, a small whirlwind bustled over and tore it from his grasp.

"Oh dear. I'm so sorry about Goku. He just can't contain his appetite, you know? I'm Chichi. Well, actually it's Chelsea, but I don't think anyone's ever called me Chelsea in my entire life. I'm just not a Chelsea sort of a girl, you know?" Juu nodded. She seemed to be mingling. It wasn't hurting as much as she'd expected.

------

And so she found herself lazing about on a plastic chaise beside the pool, sipping a particularly good mango daiquiri and listening to the inane chatter that seemed to be the staple of youths her age.

"Oh Juu, and you so just wouldn't believe – oh, Bulma! Hi!" Julia turned around to see a pale girl walking towards them. Her face was drawn, and going a little bit blue around the edges of her lips. Matched her hair and eyes. She sat down, stiffly, on the end of 18's chaise. "What's up, Bulma? Are you feeling ok? You don't look so good? Did you spot Yamcha and Claire? She's such a hussy, you know?" The girl (apparently, Bulma?) gave a weak, forced smile.

"Chi… I think you'd better come with me." She stood up on shaking legs and began walking back the way she'd come. Chichi stood up, frowning, and indicated for Juu to follow. Whatever. This could be a good story.

They found themselves way up around the science block, and Julia wished she'd put on her thongs before following the girls. There was a toilet block just below the chemistry labs, and Bulma explained in a soft, stuttering voice that she'd just been going to go to the toilet and… her voice trailed off before she finished her story.

"Bulma, why were you going to the loo all the way up here? It's way away from the party." She did her best to act concerned. The poor dumb girl probably just found some graffiti saying she was an easy lay or something. It was probably true, too.

"I'm a science and engineering student. I'd been working on some stuff in the labs before going down to the party. I got changed in the labs, because no one goes there on a Saturday, and then I came down to go to the toilet and… oh for God's sake, Vegeta. Considering the circumstances, I think you can go in the girls' toilets without us considering you a pervert. Moron." Her tone changed quickly, and Julia blinked owlishly. Now she didn't seem like the ditzy little girl traumatised by a piece of graffiti, and she watched a boy she hadn't even noticed hovering around the doorway go in. "That's Vegeta," Bulma explained. "He does forensic medicine, and he's going to be a CSI, like on TV."

The three girls waited for him to come out of the toilets for a few minutes before Julia lost her patience and went storming in, Chichi in hot pursuit.

She stopped dead when they got there.

In a shower stall lay the crumpled figure of a young girl. She looked as though she'd slid down the wall; her t-shirt was crumpled up around her armpits, exposing her lacy bra. She had an urge to pull down the shirt, preserve the girl's modesty, but this was clearly a crime scene.

Her face was a pale, blue colour. It was a young face. Round cheeks, too much lip-gloss on, a ski-jump nose. There were dark purple bruises spreading over her shoulders and upper arms, and she could hear Chichi vomiting to her left.

"She drowned."

"How can you tell?" Her voice was strained; even she could hear it.

"See the pinkish-white foam at her nose and mouth?" He waved a finger around the girl's face. "That's a telltale sign of drowning. Besides, her hair's all wet." Clearly, she was dealing with a know-it-all dickwad. Just what she needed at this point. He rocked back on his heels and stared at the corpse. Easier to think of it as a corpse, than as a girl. "I knew her." He sounded unconcerned. She assumed it was an act. "Her name's Alicia. She's here on a scholarship. Finished school early, she's only 16. She's in some of my med classes." Juu got out her cell phone, and dialled quickly. They needed the police. The kid had green eyes. She was staring at her, with those lifeless, glazed-over eyes. It was creepy.


End file.
